In The Law This Week: Voters of Color Have Fewer Redistricting Safeguards

Texas has a long history of discrimination as it relates to political mapmaking. Coming up on Tuesday lawmakers will begin the 2021 round of redistricting for the first time in nearly 50 years with no federal oversight.

The new political boundaries are supposed to be drawn to account for the state’s booming population. In every decade since Congress passed the Voting Rights Act in 1965, federal judges have ruled that Texas’ drawing of voting maps has violated federal voter protections.

In recent years, the Court has loosened its oversight on the way the Texas Legislature draws its maps. So now the big political question is whether voters will go to the polls and redistribute political power, which would force the Democrats and the Republicans to work together for fair voter maps? Or, will the voters of Texas maintain the status quo and allow the party in power to have free range to redistribute power i

Source: Pamela Moore / Gettyn the state any way they see fit? If history is a guide, the latter will be perilous for minority voters. Alex Ura of “The Texas Tribune” has the history, the story, and analysis. Read more: